Get That Bridge Out of the Way.
The comparatively quiet industry of International commercial cargo  transport – on which much of ours and the world’s economy rides –  has experienced a string of novel maritime-related crises since the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic.
The latest catastrophe occurred in the dark at 1:30 am EST on March 26, 2024, when a 984-foot, 90,000-ton Neopanamax container ship, the Dali, owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd flying the Singapore flag and operated by Maersk. It was carrying a modest 4,679 (TEUs) lost power exiting the Port of Baltimore in the Patapsco river and plowed into a support for the Francis Scott Key cantilevered truss bridge. The 1200 ft truss on the bridge folded-up like so many toothpicks and plopped into the river as result of the collision, causing not incidentally the deaths of 6 roadworkers who were unhappily working on the I-695 bridge at the time.
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By Dawns’ Early Light. 

What looked like a mighty mess began turning out to be a results-oriented operation. Resolve Marine has been put in charge of the salvage operation of the ship itself. The clearing of the river is the job of the Army Corp of Engineers and the Coast Guard, and the Maryland DOT is responsible for the bridge.
First, the Dali needed to be secured with 4 anchors and a tug. A plan then began coalescing quickly to identify alternate channels for smaller commercial vessels to navigate. One channel north of the accident was already in use by day four, with another channel being studied south of the wreck. But these are not passages for the large container ships.
Clearing the debris from the river will be a complex, herculean task. Sonar images of the underwater parts of the wreckage show a continuous clump of mangled steel that for safety reasons will need to be removed meticulously, with sections needing to be cut down to manageable sizes for the huge cranes led by the Donjon Chesapeake 1000 to lift them out. Additionally, the shallow depth of the river requires that all debris must be removed leaving nothing behind in the reconfigured channels.
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Hanlon’s Razor.

The reasons for the disaster begin with the Dali losing power for at least a minute while exiting the channel. The most likely explanation for this is that one of the generators was lost due to “human error.” Ships under an American flag are instructed to run both main generators until in the open sea while leaving port. European vessels are incentivized to turn off one of the generators as soon as possible saving fuel and generating bonuses.
Bridges it turns out, don’t get out of the way, and conspiracy theories multiply like rabbits. “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.,” goes Hanlon’s Razor. In this case, was it stupidity, carelessness, or just miscommunication? When the voice data recorder (VDR) is deciphered, that question may be answered.
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Pandora’s Box.

‍Oceangoing shipping has been remarkably crisis free until recently. Not merely confined to the odd-on storm-wrecks, Somali pirates, or trade wars; oceangoing commerce has suddenly been getting assaulted by dangerous, recurring man-made and natural events since the crippling outbreak of COVID 19. That caused occasion to shut down worldwide manufacturing which wreaked immediate havoc on the business of container shipping. It has been staggering to control costs ever since, as new emergencies keep scrambling the schedules of International shipping.
Some of the busiest seagoing trade routes have had operations seriously disrupted since then. The War between Russia & Ukraine launched in February 2022, has rearraigned the traffic in the Baltic Sea as well as completely disordered commerce in the Black Sea, with Russia seizing and wrecking the Ukrainian ports in the process. This has caused near famine conditions in several Eastern African states that are heavily dependent on Ukrainian grain.
Then on March 23, 2021, a hyper-container ship managed to get blown sideways in a part of the Suez Canal that resembles the eye of a needle. The second most travelled trade waterway in the world was stuck like a blocked heart artery. Seven fraught days finally led to it being cleared. This seemingly minor event however, added substantially to the misery already caused by pandemic, as over 400 ships needed rerouting.
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Only a Panama Hat’s Worth of Rain.

Adding to the distress is the severe drought again hitting the isthmus of Panama. This is causing a drop in the amount of fresh water in lakes Gatún and Alajuela – the feeders to the Canal – to near the lowest point on record at 78.2 ft. set in 2016. Traffic through the locks has slowed appreciably, with wait times averaging 9 days, up from 5-6 days pre-drought.
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Unhappy Dockworkers

Poor labor relations between the American & Canadian Unions and the ports on the Pacific Coast came to a head at the beginning of 2023. For half a year the American longshoreman Union (ILWU) on the Pacific coast agitated aggressively with wildcat walkouts for a new contract replacing the one that had concluded in July 2022. Then, like a bolt out of the blue on June 14 the unions and the ports announced that a 6-year agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association (PNMA) had been reached averting a strike that all parties concurred would have been catastrophic. The tough hurdle had been hurdled, or so everybody thought.
The Canadian dockworkers union (ILWU-Canada) had other ideas and went out on strike after their contract ended on July 1, 2023. After 17 days of ships piling up out of port, the dockworkers settled and went back on the job. Still, a lot of traffic had been stalled and / or rerouted, with much of the shipping rerouted through the Panama Canal.
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Then Came the Houthis.

On October 7, 2023, the Iranian backed Palestinian Hamas out of Gaza piteously assaulted civilian Israel. Events followed quickly as the Israeli military ruthlessly campaigned through Gaza. All eyes were transfixed on that outrage when suddenly – as an expression of support for Hamas / Gaza – the Iranian sponsored Houthi rebel militia in North Yemen began lobbing missiles and armed drones at select commercial shipping in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aiden, and the Bab-el-Mandeb.
Container ships were the primary targets with the major shipping lines, MSC, Maersk, and Hapaug Lloyd, among others rerouting around the Horn of Africa, as insurance rates rose with the threat. The French Navy began escorting the French vessels owned by the French shipper CMA CGM, and America began attacking by air the sources of the assaults in North Yemen. Even if there is a peaceful resolution arrived at in Gaza, it is by far from clear that the Houthis will cease their attacks, having  stumbled on way to bunk-up the trade of the countries they dislike.
It also can’t be forgotten that shipping is still under the threat of Somali pirates, who were recently chased-off in November 2023 by the Americans attempting to hijack an Israeli owned vessel in the Gulf of Aiden.
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A+A Price Sales & Marketing.

Here at A+A Price Sales and marketing, Our containers of 100% Natural Wood and Odorless Hydrocarbon Firestarters do not pass through the ports of Baltimore. The world’s hot spots are mercifully not in our product’s itinerary. Our Firestarter products it must be noted are shipped in full compliance with American and European standards of safety such as the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), CalProp 65, EPA, DOT, and DOJ regulations. These standards are not only relevant to consumers, but they must also be compliant with shipping regulations.
Dial-up Andrew Price today at 519-620-9873 or, e-mail at andrew@aapricesm.com. com and consider stocking 100% Natural Wood, and Odorless Hydrocarbon Firestarters for your customers from the most secure and reliable supplier Firestarters.

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